There is a way that you can set up emergency weather warnings on Android and iPhone devices, following the tragic floods in Texas.
Over 100 people have been killed by the deadly flash flood in Texas last week, with at least 161 people still missing.
This includes at least 27 children and camp counselors from an all-girls summer camp, Camp Mystic.
The tragedy took place when severe rainfall caused the Guadalupe River to flood last Friday (July 4), and the water surged over 26 feet in under an hour.
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However, the official response to the flash floods has been thrown into question, with some arguing that the warning alerts were not released as early as possible.
During a tense press conference, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha evaded questions about the alert system, saying: “As I’ve told you several times, that is not my priority this time. There are three priorities, that’s locating the people out there, identifying, notifying the next of kin – that is what I’m taking as my job as sheriff.”
When asked if the emergency manager was awake at the time in order to issue an emergency alert, Leitha replied: “I can’t tell you at this time.”
Pressed by a reporter for an answer, the sheriff added: “It’s not that easy as you just push a button, OK, there’s a lot more to that, and we’ve told you several times.”
Lt Col Ben Baker of the Texas Game Wardens said: “We understand you have many questions. We understand that. But right now, this team up here is focused on bringing people home. That’s our focus.”
How to set up emergency weather warnings on Android and iPhone
The aftermath of the tragic flood has left many wondering how to set up their own weather warnings on their smartphones.
And it turns out that there are simple ways you can get severe weather updates to your device.
If you have an iPhone, you’ll first need to head to your Settings app followed by Notifications.
Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and you should be able to see ‘Government alerts’. If you turn on the desired alert then you should receive a notification when emergency weather is incoming.
If you have an Android device then the setup of the alerts is similar - head to your Settings app and click on Notifications.
From there, select ‘wireless emergency alerts’, which could be in advanced settings depending on your device, and turn on the severe weather warning.